Perfume : The Story of a Murderer
Plot Born in an abnormal way, the main protagonist, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille was always a weird man, as described in the beginning of the book. His mother wanted nothing to do with him, and she is described as just squatting and having a baby. Grenouille as he is called throughout the book is given to a few different wet nurses who do not want him either because he ‘sucks them dry.’ Grenouille never gave off a scent, and he was described as being possessed by the devil for that reason. Father Terrier, a priest took him under his wing and took care of him in between his wet nurses. Father Terrier found his final wet nurse, Madame Gaillard, who ended up dying. But, Madame Gaillard was very significant to Grenouille’s life because she could take care of him, and she was his only motherly figure. He then began to work for a tanner in the city of Montpellier named Grimal who also ended up dying. He then came across a perfumer named Baldini and began to work for him. Now, Baldini would not come up with his own scents but mimic or copy scents of the other perfumer in town, Pelissier. So Grenouille would create scents, but then he decided he hated the scent of humans and got as far away from the scent of humans or human activity as he could. He went to a mountain and lived as a cave man for seven years. Local farmers were scared of him, because he didn’t even look human. Grenouille created his own world and palace in his imagination, where he was god. Earlier, in Montpellier he came in to contact with what he thought was the master scent of a redheaded girl who he killed and then smelled. In his imaginary world in the cave he drank the scent, and it made him ecstatic. Tallaide-Espinasse a professor took Grenouille away from the cave and used him in a lecture and then transformed him into a new man. He sees his reflection for the first time and is surprised at how normal he is. This is the first time he sees his reflection in the whole book. He leaves Montpellier and goes away to a small town called Grasse, where he comes in contact with Madame Arnulfi, who runs her dead husbands perfume store with a journeyman names Drout. He does most of the work and is able to spend most of his time working on his own perfume. During his time in this town he comes into contact with the master scent again from behind a wall. He creates many different scents but then he begins to take humans as victims and kills them to re-create scents of individual human beings, and therefore he becomes a serial killer. His targets were virgin girls around the age of 16. He killed a total of 25 girls and his last kill was the most important, Laure, who was Antoine Richis daughter. After making all of these kills he created a scent and was eventually arrested, and convicted of murder and sentenced to being crucified on the cross. Although when he came out for his death wearing the scent he had created, the crowd of thousands of people in the city of Grasse were influenced into having an orgy and fell in love with Grenouille as if he was god. He escaped and went back to his home, and when people saw him they decided that they 'needed' to have him so they ate him like cannibals and he died. That is how the story ends. Characters Grenouille – The main character in the story, he has a brilliant sense of smell and a mind that thinks differently than others. He is born from his mother who literally squats and has him as a baby; there is not much thought or process in his birth. His mother is then sentenced to death. Grenouille can smell anything from an extreme distance, his sense of smell is very sensitive. At one point in his life he decides that he hates the scent of humans and decides to go to extreme measures to get away from the scent of towns and cities. Therefore, he moves himself into the wilderness and lives in a cave for seven years. In his mind he creates his own ideal world where he is god and performs an act of hubris by equating himself with god. This character is obsessed with his identity in a way that is not quite perceivable, he shows that he isn’t arrogant about the way he looks but he is in the way he thinks. He knows that he can conquer scent, which he does in the end of the story and he knows he can make himself seem like god to get out of any situation. In the end we see an element of karma when he is killed and eaten by other humans because they love him so much, and I personally believe that was because he killed all of those other girls before. Madame Arnulfi – She owns the perfume store that Grenouille spends most of his time in and gives him a great amount of freedom alone in the shop and this is why he is able to make his beloved master scent. She pays him low wages and gives him difficult sleeping quarters and makes his life difficult but makes it easy at the same time by giving him the freedom in the shop. Although with that freedom came extremely hard work that she gave to Grenouille. Madame Arnulfi is an example of a paradox to Grenouille because she is really harsh on him but lenient on him at the same time. Baldini – Runs a perfume store in Montpellier and is very dedicated to his work but does not necessarily have an imagination. He spends most of his time in his shop not really doing much trying to think of ways to copy his fellow competitor named Pelissier. Baldini is a confused, cluttered man, and needs someone like Grenouille to get him back on track and this is exactly what Grenouille does. To the story Baldini is critical because he gets Grenouille on track with making perfume, and it is unfortunate that his house has to collapse on him, because he dies. Drout – He works for Madame Arnulfi and is one of the journeymen besides Grenouille in the shop. He has it slightly better though, and has a better living space. Fortunately for him he does duty for Madame Arnulfi in the bed and spends less time working hard in the shop and more time having sex with the Madame. Drout gives Grenouille the time to make his perfume and do what he pleases and he eventually pays for this and after Grenouille escapes, Drout is convicted of the killings and is killed in place of Grenouille. Drout represents sacrifice in the book for that. The Redhead – The first victim of Grenouille. He was at some sort of party or parade when he smelled her terrific scent and he followed it with his nose all the way across town to where she was sitting, pealing fruit. Although it was not the fruit that she was pealing that gave off such an amazing aroma, but it was her scent, the way she in particular smelled. Grenouille therefore killed her and he smelled her after he killed her because her scent was so terrific. Antoine Richis – This man was one of the counsel men in the city of Grasse that was investigating the crimes of Grenouille and the girls he killed. Antoine Richis was a smart man because he saw whom Grenouille was killing and then gave another look to his daughter who fit the criteria for what Grenouille was after. So he left the city with his daughter only to find out that Grenouille had sneaked into his daughter’s hotel room and killed her. After the trial and after Grenouille made everyone orgasmic in Grasse, Antoine approached Grenouille and asked if he could be his own son. This just goes to show the effect the scent had on the people, because Richis was a noble man that stood for justice and would never have asked his daughters killer to be his own son. Laure Richis – She was a beautiful girl that was around the age of 16 in the novel and was exactly what Grenouille’s victims were like. When she was killed she was hit on the back of the head with a bat, and then wrapped in a sheet for her scent to transpire into. Laure represents the naïve side of Grenouille in the story, as she is not described as particularly outgoing or crazy, but mellow just like Grenouille. She knows that she is a target for murder, just like Grenouille knows that he will be killed or punished for what he had done. She is the naïve side of Grenouille because she does not know why she is going to be killed but Grenouille does. Father Terrier – He was an all around good man, was very educated and had read all the philosophers, and studied a variety of subjects. He hated the superstitions of the simple folk like fortunetellers. He thinks it is ridiculous that people like this have uprooted from such a strong Christian religion. He was appalled the first time he encountered Grenouille because the baby had no smell, and he could tell that the baby had a sense of smell like no other, like he was seeing with his nose. He wanted to get rid of the baby, so he brought it to Madame Gaillard. Father Terrier plays a significant role in the story because he is the first one to realize that Grenouille’s talent is his brilliant sense of smell. Madame Gaillard – She was the wet nurse for Grenouille for a while, and the reason she worked out as a wet nurse for Grenouille was because her sense of smell was impaired, so she therefore did not believe Grenouille to be possessed by the devil. The author says that her life had already been behind her, even though she was only 30 years old. It is said that she felt nothing when she slept with a man, or when she bore children. She had a lack of emotion and an extreme sense of order and justice. She was very orderly with the babies she took care of, they had three meals a day, and she treated them all the same. Grenouille could not have survived anywhere else but the establishment of Madame Gaillard; she was a blessing to him. Madame Gaillard did this because she wanted the money so she could retire. In the book she represents Grenouille’s only real mother figure, even though there was not a whole lot of sympathy, but like the author said, Grenouille could have not survived anywhere else. Pelissier – Not a very prevalent character in the book, his name only pops up a few times but for me is a significant character. He is creative, and it is the first time in the book we see an innovative character. This is crucial to Grenouille’s life, and even though he never meets Pellissier, he feels that sense of creativity. Taillade Espinasse – Another character that does not show up a lot but is important to the story. After Grenouille goes on his 7-year retreat to the cave, Taillade Espinasse retrieves him from the cave. Taillade Espinasse was a professor and when he heard about Grenouille he thought that he should use him for his theory of fluidium letale. So he used Grenouille in a lecture and described him as living proof for the validity of his theory of earth’s fluidium letale, which is a theory that there is gas in the earth showing that the closer you are to earth the shorter you live. Taillade is a savior for Grenouille because he gets him form the mountain and transforms him into a human looking being again. This puts Grenouille back on track to finding and creating the master scent, so Taillade Espinasse is critical to the story and represents a big turning point in the life of Grenouille. Themes Fleeing Realm of Scent The concept of the, "fleeting realm of scent," is introduced at the very beginning of the novel when the narrator describes the great criminals of his century. He informs the readers that Grenouille's crime never left any traces in history, because his actions were defined by smell. Here, the narrator compare's Grenouille's existence as a form of scent that is very elusive. A captured scent never last forever, and even if Grenouille's scent could've been captured, he did not have a scent. In the beginning of the novel Grenouille scares the milkmaid and Father Terrier because of his lack of smell. These factors indicate that Grenouille's existence was very elusive and mysterious to the physical world, like that of a scent. Creator and Genius Without a doubt, Grenouille's creativity and ingenuity are extraordinary. Grenouille possesses a great gift of remembering everything he has smelled. This is demonstrated when the narrator says that Grenuille can create a new scent in his mind by reminiscing about many different scents. This is why he becomes a great help to the master perfumer Baldini, who is incapable of creating original scents. In this novel, creativity and ingenuity is defined by one's ability to be original. Identity/Existence Suskind demonstrates the importance of one's sense of self-identity in this novel when Grenouille becomes lost and realizes that he couldn't smell himself. One's identity is defined by different factors for different people. Some might define themselves by their gender, race or passion, but Grenouille defines things around him by smell. He has great knowledge of the scents around him, but he couldn't smell himself. He becomes extremely confused when he realizes this fact, and becomes suicidal. Even when he has completed the formation of the master scent, which gave him the power to do almost whatever he wanted, he was still deeply depressed. He felt like nothing would please him since he didn't know anything about himself. That's why he commits a suicide, pouring that strong smell on his scentless body. Master Scent Suskind uses the metaphor of the "master scent," to describe something that is desirable but something that you don't really want. For example, many people live their lives thinking that money, power and fame would be the answer to their happiness. They spend most of their time working towards achieving those material goods, until they realize that they're true importance comes from something else like love, knowledge or passion. Grenouille spent almost all his life trying to re-create the master scent that he smelled from the red headed girl. On his journey to create the master scent, he realizes that he lack the knowledge of self-identity. So when he does achieve the master scent, it becomes worthless to him when he can't feel the joy of knowing himself. Bildungsroman or Anti-Bildungsroman This novel might seem like a typical bildungsroman type story to many readers, but it's not. It lacks the most important component of a bildungsroman story, which is maturity. One's maturity is defined by one's mental and emotional growth, which does not seem to change for Grenouille throughout the story. Grenouille's actions throughout the story were mostly out of impulse, and he usually oes not think before he acts. This is demonstrated when he killed the red headed girl to collect her scent. He is able to avoid the consequences of his actions because of his elusive nature, but he does not even feel remorse of regret for his actions. This indicates that regardless of how many girls he had murdered, he never developed a sense of emotions. Religion/Science Grenouille's exitence as a genius scent maker is often comparable to God's ability to create the world. Grenouille's world is not of what we can perceive, since it's only through scent. Therefore, one can argue that Grenouille possesses a God-like ability to create a world of his own. Many scenes in this novel demonstrates Grenouille's world. For example when he was able to spend years in the cave by himself, smelling and imagining scents, he was constructing a whole new world for himself. This particular characteristic of his drawed negative attention from many people. Father Terrier and the milkmaid evencompared to him as an anti-christ. Grenouille's strange ability stands on the verge of religion and science, not corresponding to both and not being able to be defined by these terms. One could argue that his existence is not of this world. Tick and Host Grenouille is often compared to a tick in this novel. That is because he seem to latch onto whichever host he would benefit from. First it was Madame Gaillard, who is unable to sense the strange vibe that Grenouille sends. This allows him to find a shelter, when everyone else would've thrown him out like the milkmaid and Father Terrier. After benefitting from Gaillard, he moves on to Grimal, then to Baldini. Grenouille only seems to latch onto people who were inadequate of feeling compassion. Madame Gaillard's soul was sealed, as described by the novel, and Grimal had no symphathy for Grenouille at all even when he proved himself to be an advanced worker. Baldini was a selfish thief who stole Grenouille's creativity for his own good. However, Grenouille didn't seem to complain under any circumstances, because his only goal was to survive. Just like a tick. Background Information *This story takes place in the 18th century France *It was a time that was greatly influenced by the Enlightenenment Era and the French Revolution *Humanist Ideas were being emerged *Philosophers came into action in shaping the common cultural beliefs *Most importantly, Science and Religion were becoming important to the population *Often times Science and Religion did not share common beliefs, and it was separated by many groups *Many who believed in religion questioned science, and those who believed in Science despised Religion *It was a time when the Renaissance ideas provoked the people's urge to explain the natural world that they live in, and both Science and Religion were used as a tool to define the world. Key figures Charlotte Corday, French revolutionary Georges Danton, French revolutionary leader Louis XVI, King of France Constructing Perfume Perfume is something made out of essential oils together in base oil, together with alcohol and water. The primary or essential oils that you use in the perfume are called the ‘notes’ of the perfume. When you apply perfume the base notes are the ones that remain on your skin for the longest and give you such scent. The top notes are the oils that tend to be most pungent and are easy to smell right after application of such perfume. The essential oils or notes can evaporate or disintegrate at different rates, therefore showing that a perfume can change over time. To construct your own perfume you must experiment a lot to get the scent that you want. Base Notes - cedarwood, cinnamon, patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla, moss, lichen, fern Middle Notes - clove, geranium, lemongrass, neroli, nutmeg, ylang-ylang Top Notes: bergamot, jasmine, lavender, lemon, lime, neroli, orchid, rose France in the 18th Century To further our knowledge on what was going on around the time of Grenouille I have created a timeline for us to look at. Personal Enlightenment The Maslow diagram of the hierarchy of needs shows how a personal can reach enlightenment and we see this is the story of Grenouille. The pyramid is this… Analysis/Quotes "Odors have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions, or will. The persuasive power of an odor cannot be fended off, it enters into us like breath into our lungs, it fills us up, imbues us totally. There is no remedy for it." P.82 Scent is inevitable, because we have to breath. If we don't breath and try to avoid scent, obviously we would die. This indicates that Grenouille's master scent holds that much power. This inevitable persuasion resulted in controlling and manipulating people when Grenouille used the scent to avoid his execution. This shows just how much power Grenouille holds in his hands, and if he wanted to do something, it is inevitable through his power of scent. If one tries to avoid it, he or she will end up dead. "He succeeded in being considered totally uninteresting. People left him alone. And that was all he wanted." P.73 This quote demonstrates Grenouille's disinterest of human kind. He had no urge for any sort of human relationships, except for those who were absolutely essential for his survival. As the novel mentioned many times, Grenouille was like a, "tick," whose sole purpose was to survive. He didn't want any distractions other than surviving and creating the master scent. “He possessed the power. He held it in his hand. A power stronger than the power of money or the power of terror or the power of death: the invincible power to command the love of mankind. There was only one thing that power could not do: it could not make him able to smell himself.” The "power" in this quote is referring to the master scent. The ineviatble power of scent is strong enough to make anything possible through evoking love in mankind. However, it disinterests Grenouille because he could not smell himself, which means he does not possess an identity. To Grenouille, everything is defined by smell. He couldn't smell himself so he didn't know who he was. That is why he ends up using the master scent to cover himself and died. “...his sleep, though deep as death itself, was not dreamless this time, but threaded with ghostly wisps of dreams. These wisps were clearly recognizable as scraps of odors. At first they merely floated in thin threads past Grenouille's nose, but then they grew thicker, more cloudlike. And now it seemed as if he were standing in the middle of a moor from which fog was rising. The fog slowly climbed higher. Soon Grenouille was completely wrapped in fog, saturated with fog, and it seemed he could not get his breath for the foggy vapor. If he did not want to suffocate, he would have to breathe the fog in. And the fog was, as noted, an odor. And Grenouille knew what kind of odor. The fog ws his own odor. His, Grenouille's, own body odor was the fog. And the awful thing was that Grenouille, although he knew that his odor was his odor, could not smell it. Virtually drowning in himself, he could not for the life of him smell himself!” Grenouille had a nightmare of not being able to smell himself. His frustration is demonstrated by the image of being wrapped around by his own scent, but not being able to smell it. It seems so close and obvious to him but still he is unable to smell himself. His life that he thought was full and and satifying at the mountains turned into a nightmare. He panicked and this nightmare caused him to return to the cities. “The rivers stank, the marketplaces stank, the churches stank, it stank beneath the bridges and in the palaces. The peasant stank as did the priest, the apprentice as did his master’s wife, the whole of the aristocracy stank, even the king himself stank, stank like a rank lion, and the queen like an old goat, summer and winter.” p.11 This quote describe the conditions of the city that Grenouille was born into. He was born around terrible stench, which could've been related to his exceptionally special gift of smell. It is ironic that even though Grenouille was born around a lot of smell, he does not possess a smell of his own. This quote also describes how smell is all around the world, from the beggar's streets to the king's palace. Once, again, the inevitability of smell is stated. Cites - http://www.fivepower.net/59626/html/page.html http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryhowtoguide/a/makeperfume.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_French_history